TPPA – committee report

The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee report on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement has been released.

Recommendation

The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee has conducted the international treaty examination of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and recommends that the House take note of its report.

But…

New Zealand Labour Party minority view

The first Labour Government pushed for market access improvements in Europe, and the Party has continued to push for free trade since. Yet, the Labour Party wishes to protest in the strongest terms at the Government’s failure to effectively represent the long-term interests of New Zealand in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. As it stands, we cannot support the ratification of the-Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement.

Conclusion

The Labour Party is the party of free trade. As a party, we have always sought to deliver the benefits of free trade to New Zealand, and to reduce the barriers to growth for our firms and workforce. In doing so, we have been mindful of the constitutional convention that governments should not seek to bind the hands of future governments, unless there is a clear and bipartisan agreement to do so. The Labour Party has sought to deliver economic agreements with other countries that promote and support economic growth, and deliver new and improved working opportunities for our residents.

The failure of the Government to preserve New Zealand’s ability to legislate in its future interest, and the inadequacy of modelling supplied to the committee means that we cannot be confident that the TPPA agreement put before the committee meets these objectives. The best available analysis suggests that it is likely to lead to a reduction in the number of jobs.

The proposed gains are marginal, if they even exist. It remains to wonder whether with better political leadership, an agreement with more clearly demonstrated benefits to New Zealand might have been offered up to the committee for consideration.

Had the Government through the five year negotiating period adopted a model of rigorous consultation with opposition parties, academia, unions, and business―as has been done in New Zealand in the past―a clearer and more informed negotiating mandate might have been gathered.

Equally, and in response to the questions such consultation inevitably raises, the Government might have commissioned modelling and developed policy responses to address concerns about employment, income distribution, and public health impacts. Sadly this was not done. Certainly, in those other TPPA countries where fuller and wider consultation was undertaken, public backlash to the agreement finally reached appears more muted.

The TPPA will have ramifications for generations of New Zealanders. For their sake, we should not so lightly enter into an agreement which may exacerbate long-term challenges for our economy, workforce, and society.

Green Party of Aotearoa/New Zealand minority view

The Green Party opposes ratification of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. We call on the Government to

delay introduction of the domestic legislation for the Treaty

agree to an urgent debate on this report as part of the treaty examination stage

hold a non-binding public referendum on ratification of the Treaty in its current form.

The Green Party is critical of both the substantive content of the TPP and the procedure for its multilateral negotiation and its ratification in New Zealand. In summary, they are:

Conclusion

Domestic legislation to implement the TPP should be deferred in favour of a more open and honest debate on these fundamental and critical issues of political governance, economic wellbeing, and sustainability.

There is a need to improve the negotiating procedure for 21st-century economic integration agreements, and there is a need for a model agreement to be circulated and scrutinised under public transparency.

The Green Party plans to undertake such an initiative, so that future agreements, such as the European–New Zealand agreement, can benefit.

New Zealand First Party minority view

New Zealand First insists that trade is a core ingredient in growing wealth and prosperity in New Zealand. We say that the TPP is not a trade agreement. As numerous analysis has shown, coupled with several independent New Zealand articles, the TPP will serve only to grow income inequality in New Zealand.

The TPP is a sideshow to the WTO and we should be supporting the far better and greater opportunities arising out of that, including the recent breakthrough in the current Doha Round on elimination of agricultural subsidies. Why sign a TPP agreement that would protect those subsidies to the detriment of our exporters?

Recommendation

New Zealand First, in consideration of all of the submissions, given the time frame made available, and given the political climate in our prospective partner nations, recommends that this Government not ratify this trade agreement. We recommend the pursuit of a trade deal that would actually benefit small-to-medium enterprise in New Zealand and most certainly our agricultural sector.

9 Comments

Yawnnnnnnnn…. If we, as in NZ, don’t trade and we don’t participate in agreements about IP rights and investment rights, then we recede into a scummy little 3rd world entity. No money for the latest and greatest medical advances, no money for the best technology, no money for lots of stuff and is that what we want? A shrinking economy and a slow retreat to 3rd world standards?

Sign iup to it, implement it and review it in 3 years or 5 years. See if the evidence of the treaty in PRACTICE matches the HYPE of all the problems put around by Labour, The Greens, Kelsey et al – if it does WITHDRAW!!! Else continue and set the 5 year review counter to zero again…repeat….

patupaiarehe

If we, as in NZ, don’t trade and we don’t participate in agreements about IP rights and investment rights, then we recede into a scummy little 3rd world entity.

Bollocks Dave, of course we need to trade, and we already do. Our exports, whether they be dairy, beef, fish, or whatever, are regarded as top quality product throughout the world. Signing the TPPA (or not) will not change this, nor the demand for a ‘clean & green’ product.

patupaiarehe

Iceberg

Our primary produce can easily be substituted from other suppliers if we’re not in the TPP. NZ doesn’t have the best produce in the world. Go to any supermarket in Nth America or Western Europe and you’ll be astonished at the quality. We need access more than they need us.

Stopped reading at Bollocks – great engagement. Its not about what we do now but what we can do more of in the future……and signing the TPPA will change things – removal of tarriffs and standardising of rights & rules will be worth a great deal to NZ over time…but the only way to prove it is to do and measure. We will see in 6-7 years when maybe Labour get the treasury benches. We will see then if they back the blustery talk with action and bail out…

Iceberg

LABOUR: Let’s officially document ourselves as the most ridiculous political party ever seen in NZ. We’ve thought this through carefully and we feel we have easily trumped the McGiddicully Serious party.